Dry-stone wallers perform an ancient, essential craft that has enjoyed a renaissance in recent years. From graphic designers to yoga instructors, more and more people are changing careers to learn the skill. In France, artisans now have access to a training school with a state-certified diploma, and public officials are keen to employ them for departmental … Read more
Minnesota appears to be the first US state on the path to adopting the newest official residential building codes featuring hempcrete and strawbale. The nine-member Technical Advisory Group voted in favor of hempcrete and strawbale, said advocates who had to appear before the advisory board twice with significant revisions to finally get approval. “When we … Read more
A climate-resilient city can predict, withstand and recover from climate-related hazards — storms, heatwaves, floods — while maintaining its essential functions and keeping its population safe. Key attributes include a robust infrastructure, renewable energy integration, natural buffers like parks and wetlands, and proactive city planning. These are some of the factors that cities use to anticipate, … Read more
Thomas Hearts is one of the founders of an intentional-community in Socorro County, New Mexico, called Happy Castle Art Camp and they are gearing up to break ground on their very first Superadobe Earthbag Dome and they want you to be part of it. They are calling this the “Bonfire Dome” and a free natural-building … Read more
Carl Elefante’s Going for Zero: Decarbonizing the Built Environment on the Path to Our Urban Future broadens the horizon about how architecture can move toward a carbon-free future and achieve it. Elefante, who served as the 2018 National AIA president, writes about the valuable lessons that our built heritage can teach us. He is concerned … Read more
What if architecture didn’t just exist in nature, but behaved like it? That’s the provocation behind BIOTOPIA: Propagative Structures, the visionary installation by The Why Factory and artist Federico Díaz at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. The project imagines a future in which biology becomes the basis of design, and our cities are not just … Read more